Dissection
/dɪˈsɛk.ʃən/noun
The act of cutting apart a body, object, or idea for detailed examination.
Did you know?Dissection comes from Latin dissecāre, and the same sec- root also lives in words like section, bisect, and sector — all carrying the ancient idea of cutting into pieces.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sek-
“to cut”
Latin
Latin
secāre
“to cut”
Latin
Latin
dissecāre
“to cut apart, cut to pieces”
Late Latin
Latin
dissectiō
“a cutting apart, anatomical cutting”
Middle English
English
dissection
“the act of cutting apart for examination”
Modern English
English
dissection
“the act of cutting apart for detailed study”